Amitabh Bachchan’s Another
addressAlong with ‘Prateeksha’
and ‘Jalsa’ in Mumbai, another address received a body blow after the death
of superstar Amitabh Bachchan’s mother, Teji Bachchan. ‘Sopan’, the beautiful
abode for many years of Teji and her husband Harivansh Rai Bachchan, is
an elegant house in Block B of the capital’s upmarket Gulmohar Park.

‘Sopan’, which has seen
many memorable sessions of poetry and debates, wears a deserted look today.
Both Harivansh Rai and Teji wanted to stay back in Delhi, but it was Amitabh
who forced his parents to shift their base to Mumbai.

‘Sopan’ was perhaps the
first house that was bought by the Bachchan family and had witnessed many
lively poetry sessions under the guidance of Harivansh Rai till the late
1970s. But after the couple moved to Mumbai, it was only during Diwali
that lights were seen in ‘Sopan’. No caretaker has ever taken care of this
place.

The original allottees
of Gulmohar Park still recall the time when Harivansh Rai and Teji used
to stay here like any other resident. Eminent Hindi poet Subhash Sagar
says that Harivansh Rai used to organise poetry sessions very often at
‘Sopan’ and the couple were very good hosts. Apart from poetry sessions,
debates were also held. Poets, writers, intellectuals and teachers attended
those debates in large numbers.

Dev Krishan Vyas, veteran
journalist and a neighbour of the Bachchans, says that even though Gulmohar
Park was meant for journalists, Teji got the membership of the Gulmohar
Park Society because during those days there were not many takers.

When Gulmohar Park and
‘Sopan’ were coming up in the early 1970s, Big B was not a star. Bachchans
were an upper-middle class family with political connections. Harivansh
Rai and Teji used to visit the area very often to see the progress of the
construction of their house. Vyas said that a security man used to follow
the two during their morning walks. Asked about the reason, Teji said:
“Munna [Amitabh] fears that his parents may be kidnapped”.